Everything that is beautiful and noble is the product of reason and calculation.

Doubt, or the absence of faith and naivete, is a vice peculiar to this age, for no one is obedient nowadays; and naivete, which means the dominance of temperament in the manner, is a gift from God, possessed by very few.

The dandy should aspire to be uninterruptedly sublime. He should live and sleep in front of a mirror.

The poet enjoys the incomparable privilege of being able to be himself and others, as he wishes.

Nations, like families, have great men only in spite of themselves. They do everything in their power not to have any. And therefore, the great man, in order to exist, must possess a force of attack which is greater than the force of resistance developed by millions of people.

Being a useful man has always seemed to me to be something truly hideous.

La, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté Luxe, calme et volupté There, there is nothing else but grace and measure, Richness, quietness, and pleasure.